Canelo Alvarez hasn’t been too friendly with British opponents in the past, a fact not lost on Billy Joe Saunders, his opponent on May 8.
Alvarez has defeated the following Brits (in chronological order): Matthew Hatton (UD 12), Ryan Rhodes (TKO 12), Amir Khan (KO 6), Liam Smith (KO 9), Rocky Fielding (TKO 3) and Callum Smith (UD 12) over the past decade. And none of the fights have been close.
The oddsmakers have made Saunders a 5-1 underdog, meaning he should be the next victim.
Of course, he doesn’t see it that way. He’s a good, seasoned boxer who is unbeaten, has held his 168-pound title since 2015 and won’t be overwhelmed by the moment. He knows what he’s doing, which he figures gives him a chance against the Mexican star.
“I’m the seventh Brit he’s faced,” Saunders told talkSPORT. “He’s dealt with six of them very comfortably. The Brits like dancing and moving and thinking they’ve gotta run away, but I will be there for him to hit. I will be in range for him to hit.
“I’ll be setting traps, the same as he’ll be setting traps. I don’t think running a million miles an hour is gonna do me any justice. … He’s not got the best engine in the world, Canelo. He’s very good at what he does, extremely good at what he does, but there’s faults there.
“We’ve seen people try to run away and box him, we’ve seen people try to use the brawn, but we’ve only seen one man use his brain and that was Floyd Mayweather. Brain over brawn here. Brain wins this, technical thinking wins this.”
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Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) doesn’t believe that Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs) is superhuman.
“This is the way I look at it: You have to win every moment, every second in that ring when that bell goes,” he said. “I’m prepared to put everything down, all of the chips down. As long as I get a fair decision then I believe in my heart of hearts that the job is definitely not an impossible job.
“People go on about how good he is, how great he is. But let’s not forget he’s been beat [by Floyd Mayweather] and he got beat in the first fight with Golovkin as well, I thought.”
Alvarez holds the WBA and WBC super middleweight titles, which he won by outpointing Callum Smith on Dec. 19.
Saunders is the WBO titleholder. He won the belt by outpointing Andy Lee in 2015 and has successful defended seven times. He last fought on Dec. 4, when he defeated veteran Martin Murray by a unanimous decision.
Organizers have yet to announce a site for the fight.